You need to approach senior management, and press them on what their plan is.

Why aren't they already transitioning to remote work? Is there a timeline in place? What are their criteria about what would trigger WFH? What about employees with elderly family members at home? Do they have the necessary systems in place to support a fully remote staff?

It's very likely that management has simply avoided thinking about the topic entirely. If the employees press them for a concrete action plan, then that at least prompts them to start engaging in objective analysis.

Yeah.

It's a massive multinational company, so I'm sure they're thinking about it. Technically no barriers to working from home (I do it every Friday), tempted to just start doing it every day, but would rather they made a formal decision on it first.

What happens if you just tell them you’re doing it, rather than ask for permission?

Yeah “tell, don’t ask” is good advice for both OO design and office communication. If you ask, a manager will always consider whether they will need to ask someone else about it.

You can also take a softer approach and tell the manager your concern and say you would work from home for safety reasons unless they absolutely require you to be there. That way you didn't give an order to your boss and can still go home.

For all their faults my smaller company is very forward thinking on this. They have banned all non-essential visits to sites by clients or contractors, and travel between offices by staff - even within the same metro area. So you can't just pop into the other office on Friday if you feel like it.

You're also asked to work from home for a while if any travelling family member from overseas visits, and if you have no reason to be in the office they won't say no if you just want to work at home and avoid public transport.

Hoping it doesn't cause a big hit to productivity because it's the right thing to do.

My company is doing the same thing. We’re doing a trial day tomorrow with everyone working remote to make sure everyone is situated.

Same here. And it's not like I can just head home freely.

I did just that. I couldn't concentrate on work in a big office. I'm canceling meetings (or changing them to video conferences). I think I can get away with it for a week or two. And in two weeks I expect my employer to order home office for everybody anyway.